[♪ theme music ♪] >> bill: good morning. welcome back to the "bill press show." i'm jamaal simmons sitting in for bill. joining us first out in los angeles is going to will lisa ferguson who is bringing us the current news update. >> hey jamaal welcome back to

the show. good morning, everyone. the candidates are hitting the trail strong this week. both mitt romney and president obama will start the day off in virginia. the president then heads to oakland, ohio where early voting is already underway. and romney hosts a rally in st. petersburg, florida this evening. romney's challenge now is to prove that was the real mitt romney we saw at the debates. the confident asserttive romney we saw during the debate is not the romney we have grown used to over the last couple of months. romney has since stood by his

47% statement but now he is rolling it back. here is what he said yesterday. >> it's completely wrong. and i absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown they care about 100%. >> you might think that this new romney is nothing but an act. if you do, you are not alone. here is what the president had to say to a crowd of 30,000 people yesterday in madison, wisconsin. >> i met this very spirited fellow who claims to be mitt romney. but i know it couldn't have been mitt romney because the real mitt romney has been running around the country this past year promising $5 trillion tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. >> romney is rolling out new campaign ads as well as new talking points over the next few days and weeks.

his goal is to convince the american public that he is ready to be president. more coming up live after the break. stay with us. matter. >> i wouldn't be where i am today if it wasn't for capella university. i go to work every day and know that i make a difference. when patients leave this office they have hope in their eyes. it make me feel like i'm really doing what i was meant to do. they have given me the tools that i need to be the best "me" that i can be.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> good morning, and welcome back to the "bill press show," i'm jamal simmons, not bill press. i was here a couple of days ago and happy to be back. i'm here with my good friends, peter ogburn is in the back controlling -- >> the ones and twos today. >> how are you doing, man? >> i'm good.

it's good to be back. >> we had you on wednesday and then bill wanted to be back here to recap the debate, and we got so much positive feedback that we kicked bill out. >> if only. bill is a good friend of mine and it is good to be here. we have a guest helping the videographer out. >> it's a lot of work to make us look this good. >> well, it's certainly a lot of work to keep me from throwing this whole thing over the bridge. >> please. >> and in the studio with me is dan henning. >> hi there. >> we're going to be talking to some great guests. we have reid wilson, rowdel

mono. he is one of the super pac guys. and we have nate who is going to talk about his new book. and stan calendar and we'll find at new economic numbers. hopefully we've got good news. >> obama could use some good news. >> america could use some good news, but obama could really use some good news this week. >> but first . . . >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> on this friday some news you need to know good morning america is starting a big

change, ann romney will sit alongside dave so cohost the program. nbc also in discussions with first lady michelle obama. >> that would be nice. ann romney she is running for first lady along with her husband, although mitt romney did say one time that he didn't want to see too much of her people might get a little tired of her. >> a record night on twitter during wednesday's presidential debate, they set a record 10.3 million tweets were fired off during the debate. the highest point was jim lehrer said let's not when mitt romney wanted to move on to another

topic. >> ben knows this because he head all of those tweets. >> exactly. there were people all over the country talking about his tweets. we'll talk about that story later. >> and john travolta and olivia newton john are swinging together for the first time in 35 years. they are putting out a charity holiday music album titled "this christmas". there are also other guest artists appearing on the album including kenny g. >> that is a who's who of musics will never listen to ever. >> john and olivia do the hits. >> you got it. >> holy cow do i not want to

hear that. [ laughter ] >> could turn into a vegas show you never know. >> you never know. thanks dan. go to 866-55-press 866-557-7377. you may have heard yesterday there was a story, peter -- yesterday there was a story. >> yes. >> this story about a former governor a former chief of staff to a former president john sununu has some amazing things to say about the president. >> what people saw last night we saw a president that revealed his incompetence, how lazy and detached he is and he has absolutely no idea how serious

the problems of america is. >> he called the president lazy and detached. andrea mitchell tried to give him a way out. >> did you really mean to call barack obama, the president of the united states, lazy? >> yes. i think you saw him admit it the night before when he delivered the pizzas, he said they are making me do this work. he didn't want to prepare for this debate. >> john sununu would not take back calling the president of the united states lazy. this man is republican worked for george w. bush, ronald reagan was in the white house ronald reagan of take naps during the middle of the day fame, he was president of the united states while john sununu

was governor and he probably never would have said of ronald reagan that he is lazy. >> that's a really really good point you make. because you could legitimately say he did not prepare for the debate. >> certainly on style points. but when you take a look at barack obama substancively, the man -- this is a part of a right-wing theme that has been going on out there, mean, i hate that word but this is part of a right-wing theme that said that barack obama is not prepared to be president of the united states, he is the dumbest president of the united states i heard a woman say on the radio, and i think we know who the

dumbest president of the united states was -- >> you don't have to go that far far back. >> i think to call him a dumb man is not credible. this is not the first time that john sununu did this. we have some sound from earlier in the year. >> let me tell you what the big problem with this president is in my opinion, he is absolutely lazy and detached from his job. >> so this is part of the talking points of john sununu now the question comes from john sununu, does mitt romney agree with john sununu that barack obama is lazy. i think mitt romney ought to say something about that. but let's also keep in mind that john sununu is not the only person who was disrespectful of

the president. let's remember jan brewer. and the health care speech september 9th, 2009, congressman joe wilson who yelled out you lie in the middle of a presidential speech, i think we had never seen anything like that before. so my question to you. being president is tough. democrats and progressives were pretty tough on george bush when he was in office. my question to you, the callers, was what happened with john sununu do people treat barack obama differently? or is this just a sign of the times? are people being too sensitive? all the time on twitter i hear from people who say you don't call him barack obama, you have to call him president barack

obama, or president obama, and i think people should call him president obama, but sometimes i don't call george w. bush president. if you have a point of view about that please call our number 866-55-press that's 866-557-7377. do people treat barack obama differently? let's hear from you. right after this. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show" live on your radio, and on current tv. ♪ the campaigns and from viewers like you. >>now that's politically direct.

♪

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. >> jamal: good morning, welcome back to the "bill press show," i am jamal simmons sitting in for the much-needed vacationing bill press. good to be here with you this morning. we're talking about how president barack obama is being treated. we're also going to talk about what hand yesterday, the president of the united states really got back in mitt romney's face on the campaign trail. we'll talk about that a little bit later, and talk about mitt romney trying to take down big bird, nobody was really in favor of that, i think. our phone number here is 866-55-press 866-557-7377 and, you know, we're talking about how barack obama is being treated. i have one more clip of john sununu that we didn't play in

the last segment. not only did he call the president lazy and unattached but he also said the president needs to learn how to be an american. >> men and women all over america who have worked hard to build their businesses from the ground up is how our economy became the enemy of the world. it is the american way, and i wish this president would learn how to be an american. >> jamal: wow. so learn how to be an american. born in hawaii to a kansas mother. raised by his grandmother, his grandfather was a world war ii veteran, and educated in new york and massachusetts, needs to learn how to be an american, an american president. how about that. let's talk first to betty in california. what do you think? >> caller: i think he has been treated horrible since day one. i think he has been treated with no respect whatsoever.

it drives me crazy, and unfortunately, i do think it's because of his race which makes me ashamed to say i'm white. i just -- i don't understand how they can disrespect him so much. i have never seen one of our presidents treated like this ever. it's unbelievable. >> jamal: so betty you probably remember bill clinton when he was president of the united states. people said some pretty nasty things about him, and they talked about hilary clinton and all sorts of stuff. do you think this is worse than that? >> yes. >> jamal: okay. >> caller: i am 70 years old, i have seen a lot.

and i think he has been treated much worse than bill clinton was treated. >> jamal: okay. we'll go next to bill. thanks for calling. >> caller: i might as well just say it, as a man of color, it's a dog whistle. because just understand he didn't add the other part it to lazy and the next thing that will come out with the n bomb because this being him perceived as other, as less as something ill legitimate and this has been the ongoing commentary on the right since he became president and they don't think they need to listen to this man because of his skin color, and they don't think he is legitimate because of that, and only though 53% of the american population voted for him, and

thought he was the best pick between himself and john mccain. this is ridiculous. and this is something that earn wants to talk about, post racial politics, and there is no such thing. we're nowhere near it. >> jamal: michael dawson said i don't want you to be post racial just be post racist. don't treat me differently because i'm a black man. people talk about barack obama going into the debate that he has to be careful of not being too arrogant. >> caller: that's part of it. that called being upitty.

he loses regardless. he can be the uppity black man or the scary black guy that you don't want your kids to see. >> jamal: thank you, daryle. thanks for calling in. one of the things on this topic that is so fascinating to me. i keep trying to figure out who are the republicans appealing to on this question. look at how the american electorate votes, maybe the people who would be moved by a dog whistle are a little bit older. maybe they live outside of american cities, but they are not necessarily the young women in suburban areas. they are not parts of the coalition that republicans need to get. let's get one more call in. brandan in washington. >> caller: i wish democrats and liberals would stop playing the

same games that republicans play. we know it is racism. everything that sununu said that a couple of others like gingrich have been saying, it's racism. it's like they are afraid to say it. is it similar to clinton? we know exactly what it is. >> jamal: okay. thank you, brandon. brandon has pint he said this is just racism plain and out, we have heard that a couple of times. if anybody out there disagreed, please call 866-55-press 866-557-7377. david in chicago. >> caller: yeah, i believe it is racism. it is pretty cut and dry that it's racism. we have never ever had a president be called out in the middle of congress the way the

president has. and i hear you say on the air that sometimes you don't call him president obama, but he is the president. and the way the governor of arizona shook her finger right in his face we have never had that in a president before. to me it is pretty cut and dry. it's racism. i'm american of latino decent and even though i -- i don't agree with what a lot of what the president says, or how he handles the gop, but if i ever meet him face-to-face i'm surely going to call him president and i'm never going to bark at him. look at george baby bush he was one of the most arrogant presidents in my time and nobody ever called him out on the things they should have. >> jamal: thank you david. we'll take a quick break and

then we'll be right back after this. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ (vo) john fugelsang sees what happens. >> you know, blaming this economy on barack obama is kinda like blaming your hangover on the guy making breakfast. i like mitt romney but i'm sorry. they guy has flipped more than a crack house mattress. this campaign has become so toxic, beverly hills housewives are now injecting it into their foreheads. weekly show. >> i love romney's debate style, but i tell you, if i could be that stiff for 90 minutes, i'd ... (vo) we probably won't regret it.

♪ >> announcer: radio meets television, the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> jamal: welcome back to the "bill press show," this is jamal simmons sitting in for bill press. thank you for being with us. we are taking your calls at 866-55-press, 866-557-7377. we are talk a little bit about the respect shown to the president of the united states. what is appropriate, what is inappropriate. do you think people are being

too sensitive or are people treating the president with disrespect. i worked for vice president al gore when he ran for president. and nobody was more upset than us than when george bush was selected to be in the white house instead of al gore. i walked into the state department for some big meeting they were having and i can remember vividly sitting in the back of the room and they started playing hail to the chief. there we go. "hail to the chief." everybody stood up, and i had a decision to make. but ultimately i stood up. i didn't stand up for george bush, but i stood up for the office. so we're going to go to your

calls, 866-55-press 866-557-7377. and first we have bill from jackson bill. that rhymes i like it. >> caller: yeah. >> jamal: hi bill. >> caller: i think the dog whistle thing shows a lack creativeness and lack of thought. it shows folks trying to use those kind of signals just don't have anything substantive to put forth, you know, in -- in contrast to whom they are trying to put a bad light on and secondly when you look at the house of representatives the majority in the house right now, i think, if you want to talk about lazy and not doing anything substantive -- i'm pronouncing that incorrectly -- >> jamal: we got ya. >> caller: yeah. just look at what they are doing.

these guys are being paid good have good insurance, and retirement, and literally are getting away -- no one in the united states can make that kind of money and not have to work for it except for these guys, and it just seems like no one is in an uproar about that. i don't hear anyone complaining that these people all they do is posture. >> you are down there with my good friend your major, alvin brown. and i want to know who do you think impacts -- who are the people that are moved by this dog whistle? >> caller: people that are listening to information that is incorrect, they are being fed fear. they are afraid because of their livelihoods. they are stuck in an era in their mind where possibly the idea of a black person was someone who was -- wanted to live off of the government.

it's just -- it's like watching an old movie, and believing the old movie was real. i think that's the way to put it. >> jamal: so we know that's the case. we have a president of the united states who has been arguing to the country that we know we're in a ditch. we know we have got to get out of a ditch. but do we get out of it by everybody getting behind and pushing the car out, or are we all going to get out of the ditch, every man and woman for him or herself are we going to work together or not? do you think that is something america is going to want? >> i get the feeling that mitt romney is being told what to do. i just feel that he's -- he's

being manipulated heavily, and i don't think the real romney is going to show itself. it's not going to happen. i do give credit to president obama that he sticks to his guns on what his virtues are, and it comes out. i think he calculatedly thought it through on the debate to let mitt romney show his hand. because let's face it he hasn't told any accuracies about what he'll do. he hasn't revealed any detail so let the guy stand there and make a fool of his self the press and all of the fact checkers are going to get him anyway, and yes, you are right, we all have to do this together. and picking on the congressmen, i think if they don't do anything to help move the country forward, they shouldn't get a paycheck. i can't get a paycheck if i

don't do what i'm supposed to do. >> jamal: absolutely. thank you bill for calling in. bill makes some good points. we're going to have to work together to get this country back on track. and the ramny plan is to say every person in america for him or herself, and we're going to talk about how the president responded to this debate and i think we do have to look at these debates as a three-round prize fight. that was the first round. obama's i'm are all over on the fact checks. and we have two more fights. let's go to jerry is georgia. >> caller: how are you all doing there? >> jamal: good morning jerry. where are you in georgia? >> i'm in jessup georgia.

close to brunswick. >> jamal: one of my favorite places is savanna. >> caller: absolutely. i'm kind of like bill on this. i would like to congressmen and people to just one day have the responsibility that our president has to shoulder every single day. one day in his shoes and they are going to sit back and say you know what i probably need keep my mouth shut because he is doing a lot better job than i can ever do. i really believe that. and i don't believe it's racism. i believe these people are trying to throw out any and every possible thing they can to get romney's numbers up high as they can possibly get him. romney doesn't stand a chance. he's a puppet put in by that party. they are telling him what to do

what to say, and if he is elected president, he is not going to be the one running the country. and if american's don't realize that now, we have a problem. the debate i have to admit and i'm ashamed of it, i have never sat down and watched a debate from beginning to end. until this one. everybody says oh, obama lost the debate on style and all of this. i see at it different way. i look at it as he stood there. he played by the rules. he kept his composure and everything he said, he has fact to back it up. so if i'm looking at it from the very first time, and not even knowing how a debate is supposed to go, i look at that debate as obama had facts, numbers statistics, he stated what he was going to do how he was

going to do it, and the accomplishment to move forward in america. all romney dun was to disband everything that has done to this point by obama to this point to help america. so do i want to tear america down, or build america down. i appreciate you all letting me holler. >> jamal: i used to work for your senator down in georgia. we asked him what is in this brunswick stew. and one of the greatest responses ever which was basically parts of a hog, some you might recognize, but most you probably wouldn't. >> caller: that's about right. we even get some cat fish head in it. when you are make your stew you

keep the cat fish in as it is stewing up and before you serve it, take the cat fish head out and get rid out of it. it gives it extra flavor. >> jamal: now that's news you can use. >> absolutely. >> jamal: give us at call at 866-557-7377, and you can find me @jamal simmons on twitter. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

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>> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> jamal: good morning, welcome back to the "bill press show," i am jamal simmons sitting in for bill press. you can find us at 866-55-press or on facebook at facebook.com @ facebook.com facebook.com @ facebook.com facebook.com @ facebook.com @billpressshow. okay. feeter i think we have a little bit of sound of the president on the cam bane trail talk about mitt romney. >> obama: when i got on to the

stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. [ laughter ] >> jamal: and he also talked about mitt romney's plans when it comes to national public radio, and our good friend big bird. >> obama: thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on big bird. it's about time. [ laughter ] [ applause ] >> obama: we didn't know that big bird was driving the federal deficit. but that's what we heard last night. >> jamal: to the president is getting in mitt romney's face. and we have somebody on the line joining us who can talk about what is happening in the campaign what hand at the debate, and how the president is coming from what most people think was not his best performance. this is reid wilson. tell us what do you think about the debate and how is the last

sort of 24 hours have gone? >> it's so funny to see the guy on the trail yesterday in president obama and wonder where he was on wednesday night during the debate. this is a candidate who always has been so fired up and he speaks so well, and yet where was he wednesday. and on the other side of the stage, who was that guy after several lackluster debates, mitt romney does not present alterably well, and yet he showed up. that really surprised me. i mean it seemed like the two candidates sort of reversed roles for a night, and it ended up hurting president obama there significantly. i think was an opportunity for obama to sort of shut the door on romney. we have had a couple of weeks now of just terrible news. from the democratic convention which was so much better than the republican convention in terms of getting results and

actually sort of promoting the agenda, so, you know, the 47% video that came out that really had age pact. that had an impact not just on mitt romney's poll numbers, it started to have an impact on senate candidates all over the country. that really gave the republicans a serious scare. at the end of the day, romney had tearable month of september, the republicans are starting to put a little bit of distance between themselves and romney. a bad debate performance would have nailed that coffin shut, but romney did pretty well. not only did he have his own hopes on his backs, he had the hopes of his entire party resting on his shoulders, and give him credit. >> jamal: reid what is really interesting about the 47% comment, i was down in florida last week, and i ran into a guy

who was a veteran and he said listen, i listened to what romney said in the 47% number and in that number are guys like me. we're getting our va benefits and he is talk about us like we are victims. and we're not victims we're warriors. he captured so much of how mitt romney lumped a whole bunch of people from senior citizens to veterans, to students to people like my family that needed a little extra help to get over the hump when my sister was born, there are so many people like that that romney talked about that really sent a shock wave. >> yeah, he is the elite of the elite. he is the 1% of the 1%. i was talking to a guy the other day who is very wealthy on his

own and owns a couple of companies here in the d.c. area and he was saying boy, romney even makes me feel like he is too elite. and i think part of this is the outcome of sort of needing more and more money to run your campaign. romney made those comments at a closed door fund raiser of people writing 50 and $60,000 checks to the committee, and that is a big deal. that's -- that's -- when you spend all of your time around people who are of that sort of echelon, you are going to say something different than you might if you are doing a lot of rallies with low-dollar donors. so i think romney's -- part of romney's problem has been he has never shed that elite, sort of image. romney is the extreme version of john kerry, right?

>> jamal: right. was there ever a chance, though that we could go for five more weeks without something shaking up this race? it seems to me mitt romney was going to do something, some external factor was going to happen, there was no way we were going to go five weeks on the trajectory that we were on. >> yes, and we have the jobs numbers coming out, and the jobs numbers that will come out in the first week of november. and the media likes to write the horse race stories, and justify their ability to spend the rest of these five weeks on the campaign trail. so somebody was going to write the romney is having a comeback story, and romney just gave them a reason to do so. >> jamal: okay. reid wilson thank you. check out "the hot line."

thank you for being here. i am jamal simmons, and this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: radio meets television, the "bill press show." now on current tv. ♪

>>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot.

♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> jamal: good morning, i'm jamal simmons in for bill press, here on the "bill press show." we have had a pretty fun hour the first hour of the show. we got a lot of callers in. we got a lot of people talking about the john sununu quote calling the president lazy and detached. and that was not the first time he used the phrases lazy and

detached. he also called the president un-american at some point. when we think about what has happened over the last 50 hours or so talking about the debates. the republicans seem to be pretty excited about themselves. i think what happened is mitt romney saved himself from oblivion, he was on his way from being not completely off of the stage. republicans were going to defect from him and talk about senate races, congressional races, and that's not -- so he saved himself. so right now we are going to see a spirited campaign going into the last few weeks but first we're going to have a few other messages here. i'm looking forward to another

hour. thank you for having me on i'm jamal simmons on the "bill press show."

[♪ theme music ♪] >> jamal: good morning i'm jamal simmons in for bill press here on the "bill press show." we have a really big hour coming up for you. we'll have rowdel mono we'll talk to nate silver from 538 blog. we have been talking to john sununu and talking about the president take it to mitt romney.

we have a very big show. your calls 866-55-press. i want to hear from you. but first we're going to hear from lisa ferguson out in l.a. giving us the current news update. >> good morning, everyone. mitt romney is work hard to keep up his brand new image this week. he is out with a trio of new ads today all saying question not afford four more years with president obama in office. one ad targets nevada voters and features greg anthony who was born in the state. another focuses on unemployment and foreclosures in ohio. and this one. >> over $0.30 of every dollar obama spends is borrowed much of it from countries like china. he is not just wasting money, he is borrowing it and then wasting it. >> that is a huge romney talking point and really one of the only

plans we have heard from him is if he is elected we'll crack down on trade. he brought that up on wednesday's debate when he said every federal program will have to pass a test. it is worth borrowing money from china to pay for it. yes, china does hold large amount of u.s. debt but its stake is only 8%. we owe two-thirds of our debt right back to the federal government. romney is also focusing on messages that president obama will raise taxes on middle class by about $4,000 per family. but the obama campaign is firing back and saying that study has nothing to do with the president's policies. fact the president's plan would cut backs for families by about $1,300. romney's tax plan could mean bad news for a nonprofits churches

and other charities, since it would put a limit on how much you can deduct for charitable giving. we'll be right back. viewer for capella university. matter. i've been a nurse since 1979. i love being a nurse. a few years ago a friend i went to grade school with showed me a book she had kept from third grade. i had written that i wanted to be a nurse. after being a nurse for about twenty years i decided that i need to further my education. my masters degree was done completely online and that gave me the freedom and ability to do my education while i raised my kids and worked full time. raising my kids as a single mom and having them see me get my education online and work full-time has given them the opportunity to see that they can do anything that they want to. i'm currently the hospital administrator for two public hospitals. we serve patients who might not

otherwise get care. i teach an online nursing program. i feel that i'm giving back something to the nurses that are bachelors degree like i did. doing online education is something that i suggest to many, many people.

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> jamal: good morning i'm jamal simmons happy to be your guest host for one more time. we're talk about what is going on in the world, and bill is talking about his new book "the

obama hate machine." you can see bill in ashville north carolina on friday october 12th. so check the billpressshow.com to find out more about that. i'm happy to be here with the wonderful of team who are keeping me functioning a and keeping me from going completely off the air. >> oh come on. >> jamal: that is peter ogburn, who is on the other side of the glass keeping everything running. >> welcome back. >> jamal: thank you. dan henning who is sitting? here with me. >> good morning. >> jamal: good morning, dan. and keeping the video and everything else running, we have

siprion bolding. >> you know we get a lot more letters from the ladies than when bill is here jamal. >> jamal: i blind them with by bald head. >> we got a tweet the other day about the twinkle in your eyes. [ laughter ] >> jamal: all right. we have been talking about the john sununu comment that the president is lazy and detached. you can call us at 866-55-press 866-557-7377. we're going to talk more this hour about what the president did yesterday and we'll hear from our good friend at american bridge which is one of the big super pacs we'll find out how

he is spending george soros's money. but first. >> mariah carry has hired extra security after the confrontation with nicky minaj on the show. keith urban and randy jackson were also sitting at the table as the altercation went down. >> jamal: this is perhaps my best story of the day, because here is the thing. what moves viewers and listeners more than sex and violence? you have nicky ma -- ma nauj

threatening mariah carry with a gun. this is sex and violence the "american idol" folks have got to be loving this. >> the fact that those two hate each other might get me to watch that show again. >> jamal: exactly. >> father weight boxer orlando cruz came out yesterday, and said he has been a proud porta rican and a proud gay man his entire life. his next fight is in two weeks in florida. >> jamal: wow, we'll see how the rest of the boxing world reacts to that. >> yeah, that's a bomb shell. >> eight years ago mark

zuckerberg started facebook from his dorm room and now the social site has hit 1 billion users. he said he only has a thousand engineers working for him, so each engineer he has responsible for one million of its users. >> jamal: i want to be responsible for raising the stock price. not that i care. i'm just saying you have a billion customers you ought to be able to make a few dollars off of them. >> you bought facebook didn't you? >> i'm just saying -- >> bill bought it and got rid of it. >> a billion people that is so scary. if you think about -- that's a bigger population than a lot of countries, and they know -- they know more about you than the government does.

they know more about you than other countries do. >> jamal: here is tricky. i have two facebook pages, so i bet there are a bunch of people out there who have multiple facebook accounts -- >> and there are faky counts -- >> okay. so what is it only 600 million? >> jamal: yeah if we get 600 million people to click on "bill press show".com. we would be in business. >> you have two pages? >> i do. i have my personal page and my professional page. >> i am only friends with one of them. which one am i on? >> i think you are on both of them peter. [ laughter ] >> jamal: and i have been following peter -- peter also has been writing -- >> yeah, that's right.

>> i write for fish bowl dc. we cover things that happen here in the media and last night i went to a party at the a daily caller, and i saw tucker carlson who was there. and tucker and i don't have the best of relationships. >> jamal: was he wearing flip flops? >> no, he wasn't. i will say his book is actually very funny, it is called "the lizard king," and they say that a white house staffer has leaked information that barack obama is actually a lizard person dressed as a human -- >> jamal: that's believable. >> yeah. it's a funny book. and he has this lizard mask that he was walking around in -- >> so he is a v. >> that's right. >> jamal: dan, we also heard -- you went to a baseball

game the other night, didn't you? >> i did. i went to the nationals the other day >> jamal: there is's a rumor next week -- >> yes i am going to the first home playoff game. i guess that will be game 3. game 1 is this weekend against either st. louis or atlanta. >> jamal: right because there is a wild-card game today. >> which is total bs that they have to go on the road. >> jamal: you have home field advantage, but play your first two games away. >> that's garbage. >> exactly. i completely disagree with it too. >> jamal: i'm much more of a basketball fan, and in basketball your first game is at home. >> yeah, you want to start out with the advantage. >> so there's a good chance we'll be playing against st. louis in their home stadium.

>> bring it on. >> after the amazing season we had and the best record in baseball, come on. >> and what about the kid's arm? >> i'm curious to know what they do to strausberg. >> oh, he is not coming back -- >> i don't know. i'm not so sure. he said the other day. i saw an interview. he has been pitching. he is still throwing. >> if he has been throwing they'll bring him back. because you have to keep these pitchers throwing every day. geo gonzalez the other ace pitcher on the team was pitching in the bullpen because he had to keep his arm warm for the playoffs. >> if they go to the world series strausberg is pitching. how could you not? >> exactly.

they have to reactivate him anyway because if they don't, he won't get a ring. >> i'm washington fan now, but really the washington nationals in the world series. [ laughter ] >> amazing -- there is a slight chance that it could be the washington nationals against the baltimore orioles. >> it would happen. >> it could happen. >> i'm pulling for the nationals and the as, the two former worst teams in baseball meeting up in the world series. >> jamal: all right. thank you all for being here on the "bill press show." you know our phone number 866-55-press, 866-557-7377. we have been talking a lot about the john sununu recording that was on msnbc yesterday, and the

earlier recording when we calls the president lazy and detached. you can call us and let us know whether you think that's is unfair to the president. and he also called him un-american. and the president since the debate, which many of us were not so thrilled about, i also think while he didn't do a phenomenal job there wasn't enough energy, he let some opportunities slide by, but i think it maybe lit a fire under some of the democrats who were starting to feel a little confident. a little smug. >> before the debate, even republicans, democrats, they were saying romney is toast. >> jamal: if people do want barack obama to win, if they want the president to get reelected then they have got to

get out and vote. grab people and do one more door knock in order to get people to the polls, but the president got back on his game yesterday, and he has some pretty spirited words, some things to say about mitt romney. >> obama: when i got on to the stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. [ laughter ] >> jamal: i love that. and he goes on to talk about the real -- the real mitt romney. >> obama: i know it couldn't have been mitt romney because the real mitt romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy, and yet the fellow on the stage last night, who looked like mitt romney said he did not know anything about that. >> jamal: so that's the president. i want to hear from you. do you think the president is getting his act together? do you think he should bring

this style to the next debate and how do you think people have been treating him? is it unfair? or just the course of politics today. call us at 866-557-7377. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show." ♪ outrageous. (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >>now that's politically direct.

♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio, and current tv. >> jamal: good morning welcome back to the "bill press show." i am jamal simmons sitting in

for-bill today. thank you for being here. i'm sitting here while we're on break, and i'm going through twitter and looking at some of these very funny messages from chris rock who is make great jokes -- he said last night, can't we just skip to the day after the election when obama continues being president and mitt romney and paul ryan are on "dancing with the stars." >> paul ryan would be great on "dancing with the stars." >> jamal: chris rock said there is nothing better about being in america than putting money in swiss bank accounts. we have been talk a little bit here at the "bill press show," you can call us at 866-55-press 866-557-7377 -- you can call us we have been talk about one issue which is john sununu

calling barack obama lazy and that he needed to learn how to be an american. governor jan brewer wagger her finger in his face joe wilson yelling out you lie in a joint session of congress. are people treating barack obama different as president, you can fill in the blank why, or is this just the way modern politics are. i would love to hear from somebody who thinks that this is just the way politics are. so if that call comes in peter let's move that call to the front. but first donald from new orleans, louisiana. good morning. >> caller: yes i want to just endorse that the office of the president is just as important as any other office. i have been to school a long time, jamal, and my mother and

grandmother always told me you have to be put a handle on everything it's either miss or mrs. or mr., or dr., or madam mozell, or whatever -- >> wait a minute you call somebody madam mozell. >> caller: we are in new orleans, jamal. >> jamal: okay. >> caller: it's a good way to meet a beautiful woman. >> we have different types of madams here in dc. >> caller: all right. but any way on a more serious topic. >> jamal: yeah let's go back to the topic. >> caller: as far as the debate is concerned, back to the

debate, i am a c-span geek, i watched the debate, i scored the debate, friends and i got together and had a little debate party. i think obama is plotting the map for the next debate. he gave romney a lot of leeway and there were a lot -- a lot of lot of lot of facts. >> jamal: here is what we do know about the president. this is one of the most competitive people that exists on the american political stage. probably there is nobody who is currently in politics who is more competitive than barack obama. i would bet anybody $10,000 -- i would bet anybody any money that this president -- people will not feel about this president's performance at the next two

debates the way they feel after the first debate. he will not let anybody talk about him the way they have talked about him the last 24 hours. >> caller: i agree with you 100% and i'll up you $25,000. >> jamal: we'll get mitt romney in there, we can cover both of our bets. that's about three hour's worth of interest in his bank account. >> caller: exactly. and romney is controlled by a few, very, very large contributors. i want president obama to ask him about grover norquist and the pledge that has paralyzed our government. >> jamal: i think you are exactly right. you should take a pledge to the constitution, a pledge to the united states, but we should not be taking pledges to these random people out there like grover norquist. i think we're done with all that. thank you, we'll see you right

back. >> announcer: is the "bill press show." ♪ >>and now to my point. that is a whole bunch of bunk! the powerful my steal an election but they cannot steal democracy.

>> announcer: radio meets television, the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> jamal: welcome back to the "bill press show." i am jamal simmons. thank you for joining me please keep the calls coming we're at 866-55-press 866-557-7377. you find "bill press show" on

facebook, you can fine me on facebook. we have one of the big super pac guys. the man who put the daddy in trinidadian. i will admit, rowdel i have known for a long time. welcome to the show. this is jamal simmons. >> thank for having me. >> jamal: are you awake now? >> i am awake, looking at a beautiful view of downtown columbus, ohio and i'm ready to talk. >> jamal: that's america's country. so you spending a lot of time paying attention to mitt romney. and you watched mitt romney on -- on -- two nights ago talk about his fake ideas for

america. what seemed surprising to me watching that debate is it is almost like mitt romney made up a new economic plan about an hour and a half before the debate and decided to talk about that instead of what he had been talking about for the last year and a half. >> i had never seen that mitt romney before. i don't think his staff had seen that mitt romney before. i don't think mitt romney knew what he was going to say until he said it. and it seemed to be working so he went with it. if you are just going to make stuff up and completely pander to the audience and say whatever you need to say to get elected, you going to do well in a dee bait. >> jamal: let's take on one big issue from that debate. i follow this stuff pretty

closely, and i felt like mitt romney just refused to sit down on a fact which pretty much everybody snows true which is he wants to give a $5 trillion tax cut that will go to benefiting the wealthy and hurt the middle class, right? >> president obama hopefully in the second debate will drill down on it. it really is math. you can't say you are going to reduce the deficit, give tax cuts to the upper class, and not raise taxes on the middle class, when he said he doesn't want to do this when he has been talking about it for the last 18 months

and when he has had a lot of groups say this will cost $5 trillion and the middle class will end up paying for a lot of it, through cuts in programs it was a surreal moment. >> jamal: i was joking before you came on, that you are one of the few places where george soros decided to give money, but what does american bridge do? >> american bridge is a super pac, but we're a little bit different than what people might consider a super pac. we focus on political research candidate tracking and communications. and what we do is we provide content to other pacs so that they can do their polling and paid advertisement and mail and so on and so forth. so we are in -- we are in

elections all across the country, of course, the president, but also battleground senate races and house races across the country. just working with the community to make sure they have the content that they need in order to do the work that is so critical to winning these races. >> jamal: that's a really good point. just give us a little bit of what you think are the most important senate races to watch, and what is going to happen own the congressional level in this election. >> listen on the senate i feel very good about our -- that being the democrats -- chances of retaken the senate. a lot of that has to do with having very good candidates on our side. give you a couple of really good

examples in ohio brown has been doing a really good job while just being pummelled by outside groups such as cross roads and other super pacs and yet he still released his challenger. like mitt romney the candidate has a very loose definition of the truth. you look at massachusetts at the brown warren race they have been going at it. and i think you are starting to see warren kind of pull away. i think that brown would like for the people of massachusetts to believe he is this centrist, independent. i think the last debate they had last week where he said that the supreme court justice that he admired the most was anthony scalia showed the people of

massachusetts that he is in no way an independent or moderate voice. so i could go on and on and on [ inaudible ] is doing well against [ inaudible ] in virginia. and the last point i'm make is we are doing well in states on the senate side that i don't think republicans ever thought that they would have to spend money defending. heidi [ inaudible ] is taking it to rick bird in north dakota. it's a very small state and people know both of the people running very well, and heidi is doing very well. same for richard carmoana in arizona. and in indiana, richard mourdock won his primary against long-time republican dick lugar, and in doing so exposed him as an extreme republican who had

cut the department of defense, cut the department of education -- completely cut the department of education, and has said that he thinks bipartisanship a joke. >> jamal: let me ask you this so you -- you and i both have worked for senator harry reid. you were his communications director in the united states senate, and i did some work for the state party out in nevada. one of the races i'm starting to pay attention to again is our friend running for congress in las vegas. and i heard there is a lot of super pac money coming into that race. is nevada going to be a place where we think we'll hold on and pick up some steam? >> i think so. i think that shelley berkeley -- steve [ inaudible ] i have so much respect for, and i think that he is going to be

the next congressman for that district. i also believe that shelley berkeley can win in nevada as well. i also believe that president obama is going to win that state, but i think one of the reasons why we're going to have to [ inaudible ] in nevada and jamal you saw it firsthand, the infrastructure that the senate majority leader harry reid has built up in that state since 2006 on. i mean part of that infrastructure that helped him win and retain his seat in 2010 and the republicans have nothing like it. it's interesting. one of the things that democrats did and what senator reid did to help build up that infrastructure was [ inaudible ] in 2008. and having those caucuses held in nevada and you think of all of the money and democratic

people that came in the people that they were able to register because of that. and then in this election republicans for the most part just bypassed nevada. they gave mitt romney a free pass. there wasn't much of a battle in nevada in this past republican primary, and i think that republican candidates in nevada are going to pay the price for that, for not having put as much money in there as democrats have. >> jamal: thank you for joining us. you guys have a good time in ohio. thank you for getting up early and joining us on the "bill press show." you can follow rodell on twitter. is the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill

press show." live on your radio, and current tv. ♪ like you. >>now that's politically direct.

♪ >> announcer: is this the "full court press," the "bill press show," live on your radio, and on current tv. >> jamal: good morning this is the "bill press show." my name is jamal simmons sitting in for bill press. thank you for joining us this morning. it has been a fun morning already, we had reid wilson, and rowdel explaining and breaking down a lot of what was happening on senate races, congressional races, in the next hour you will

have blogging nate silver join us. and also we have job numbers coming up at 8:30. we have two issues on the table. the first is people call -- john sununu called the president lazy. is that fair is that the president of the united states this way. and secondly should he change what he is doing. should we see more fight in the next debate. i want to hear from you. call us at 866-55-press 866-557-7377. right now let's hear from steve in madison, wisconsin. good morning, steve. >> caller: good morning. i think the silver lining in the debate results is that progressives are going to redouble their efforts to get the word out and the vote out, app secondly i think the

president will do much better in the townhall setting. we'll be able to look right in the camera and say these medicare lies are a bunch of bunk. he'll look at people right in the audience and get through them like he can. >> jamal: one of the things that annoys me the most. they talk about how president obama can't talk without using a teleprompter. first of all who cares, everybody does it. second of all, when we have seen this president in a townhall meeting when he is interacting with regular people nobody connects better than barack obama when he is in one of these meetings. >> caller: yeah i think so too. and without the constraints of

somebody talking over him like mitt romney did. he'll be able to talk to a human being out there. >> jamal: and any question can come up in a townhall meeting. god love jim lehrer but did he get off five questions in the course of that hour and a half. it seemed like he was just sitting there. in a townhall meeting, you can get a question from anybody on any topic, and the candidate has to respond. >> caller: yes, i think so too. >> jamal: i think we just lot you. welcome sarah. >> caller: good morning. i just wanted to say that president obama set good old mitty up the other day. it is like playing a game of

chess. the etch-a-sketch man never, never lets us know what he really stands on on any subject. >> jamal: and sarah if he stands one place today, who knows where we'll be tomorrow. >> caller: yes. yes. kay not tell you president obama has a great -- he is just a great man. and as far as sununu, if he wasn't saying what he says here in this country, he would be in jail someplace or beheaded. thank god for the united states. >> jamal: absolutely. we're lucky we don't have to have that kind of result especially those of us who talk for a living on the radio. thank you for being here. steve in perriesville indiana. >> caller: yeah, hey.

sununu is calling president obama lazy the whole house and senate republican party has been lazy ever since they have been in office. they have done nothing and they are calling this man lazy and un-american. they are the ones that are un-american. >> jamal: yeah, to talk about people are un-american, that takes us back to an ugly time in history. you had -- paul robeson who is a great artist who had political beliefs that were unpopular at the time who was treated so badly. don't you think it's time for us to get past the un-american talk? >> caller: oh, yeah. barack obama is one of the best presidents we have ever had, and he's been working every day that he has been in there, and the house and the senate they have

done nothing for this -- this president. >> jamal: well, steve, thank you for calling. you are in indiana, we're counting on you to make indiana close and fight it out. we need to win that senate race too, i think for those of us who care about brings this country together. i'm jamal simmons, we want more of your calls in the next hour. 866-55-press, and we'll see you back right after this. ♪ is

you've heard bill's views, now let's hear yours. politically direct means no b.s. just telling you what's going on in politics today. >>at the only on-line forum with a direct line to bill press. >>it's something i've been waiting for a long time. >>join the debate now. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] ♪

>> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> jamal: good morning, this is jamal simmons sitting in for bill press here at the "bill press show." thank you for joining us. we have had a fun morning so far this morning. we have had great call-in guests. we want more calls from you. you can call us at 866-55-press. that's 866-557-7377. we want to hear more from you in the next hour. we were just talk about president obama what he needs to do in the next debate. we saw what happened a couple of nights ago. mitt romney got him on style. and i want to see more energy

out of the president. so we'll see what he does in the next debate. in 2007 i friend of mine who knows the president said you don't have to win every event, but you have to do really well at some events. debates he is not great at. in a town hal debate he is going to be much better. he has real people there with real problems that he can contact to. i want you to call me back and tell me what you think are. call me back at 866-55-press. some people are blowning me up on twitter saying i don't know what i'm talking about. i want to hear from you too. call me up at 866-557-7377. my name is jamal simmons, i'm here on the "bill press show." thank you very much. ♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[♪ theme music ♪] >> jamal: good morning. welcome back to the "bill press show." my name is jamal simmons, i'm sitting in for bill today, while he is off on a much-needed vacation. you will see bill back here on monday morning. we have been having fun the last couple of hours. i hope you have enjoyed it. we want to hear more from your calls. 866-55-press 866-557-7377. coming up we have nate silver

job reports at 8:30. it will be a jam packed hour. but first we have lisa ferguson in los angeles with the current news update. >> hey jamal. good morning, everyone. we are seeing winners and losers coming out of the debate. not talk about the candidates but there are a lot of other people involved in this debate, and the losers are now starting to come to their own defense. first up jim lehrer is getting a huge amount of criticism over these last two days for pretty much doing nothing during a debate. but lehrer says his job was just to stay out of the way. and that's exactly what he did. romney not making any friends with pbs, the station is also fighting back on romney's plan to cut its fund-raising.

and that romney does not understand the value americans place on public broadcasting, and the return in its investment. the corporation gets about $450 million a year. that might sound like a lot but it is just 1% of the entire federal budget and works out to just about $1.35 per american. as for the winners of the debate, well that goes to republican fund-raising. romney's super pac restore our future is not giving out any specific amounts but they did say the day after the debate is the best day it has had the entire campaign. the national republican senor toal committee send an email praising romney's performance and asking for support.

more coming up next. we'll be right back. ♪ viewer for capella university. matter. >> i wouldn't be where i am today if it wasn't for capella university. i go to work every day and know that i make a difference. when patients leave this office they have hope in their eyes. it make me feel like i'm really doing what i was meant to do. they have given me the tools that i need to be the best "me" that i can be.

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>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio, and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> jamal: good morning, welcome back to the "bill press show." my name is jamal simmons, sitting in for bill press for one day only. we go back to the regular scheduled program on monday. bill press will be back from his much-needed vacation. peter i know you miss him. >> of course i miss him. but it was weird how it happened. he came back just to recap the

debates, and people were so excited about having you fill in on wednesday, that we kicked you out and brought you back in. >> jamal: you know when bill is away, peter likes to play. >> it is true. >> jamal: peter ogburn is here, dan henning who are used to seeing sitting over here doing the "full court press" he is back there and we have the videographer team, we have a full contingent of people helping try to keep these training wheels on this trike while i am learning to ride it. we have been talking about john sununu, president obama getting in mitt romney's face yesterday, and mitt romney talk about big bird.

but first we have a very special guest in the studio with me here this morning. we have nate silver from the 538 blog of the new york times, and he is the author of "the signal of the noise." the book is called "the signal and the noise." we'll talk to him about that and talk to him about polls and data, and how all of this fits together. nate welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> jamal: let's talk about the book. sounds like this was a labor of love that you lived with for a long time before it came out. >> i'm so used to running stuff on a blog and you post it and get instant feedback on twitter and the comment section. this book i started writing in 2009 and finished up earlier

this year, so it was three and a half year project pretty much, but i wanted to write a book about prediction. and that's a very big topic. so i talked to people in 13 different fields from people who were trying to beat the stock market and people who were trying to predict earthquakes and hurricanes and which people were successful and which were failing, and there was a wide variety of outcomes. >> jamal: so in the book like you said, you canvas people from a variety of different fields you go back in time and bring people up on the history of prediction and forecasting, so what are some of the factors you use when you are making political predictions. >> well on 538, we are looking basically at the polls and

economic numbers. how you use the numbers i think requires some skill. but we want to look at the consensus evidence. we want to look where the average of the poll is and not just where one outlying data report is. there is a jobs report coming out in about 20 minutes. and it will get a lot of at attention and focus, the odds are it onto really change the story of a very slow recovery but a recovery of some kind but it will get hyped because that's how people like to behave. they like to take the newest data point, but that makes for worse prediction. and this times when we encounter all of this data we are still the same human beings and a lot

of the information isn't really very useful. so it's about that conflict between our judgment which we need, and it can also get us in trouble sometimes. >> jamal: i'm little bit of a speck tick on prediction. i'm kind of like the old -- you watch moneyball and you think of the old coach who is sitting in the high school lot with the dirt in his face and has to smell the leather of the glove -- sure. >> jamal: how do you factor in human error when you are talk about data? >> well you want to measure the uncertainty. it's important to say here is what i know, and here is what i don't know. so when we publish a forecast on 538 before debates we had mitt romney with a 15% chance of winning. and if you go back through

history and say under similar circumstances how often do candidates come back, it would be about 15% of the time. and now we expect his numbers to go up potentially. but when people say they are 100% sure often that fails. look at weather forecasters, and they say there's a 20% chance of rain, and that frustrates people sometimes. but the weather guys and gals have been very very successful. 25 years ago they could no bet ore than say it will be somewhere in the gulf coast, it could be anywhere from florida to texas. so because they kind of embraced the uncertainty and said look we know we're small compared to mother nature, but here is what

we do know right? and then they began to get better. >> jamal: we are seeing this all over the place. i do see how data is being used commercially. i see it in policing people are able to say not just where a crime is going to happen to -- in certain area, but they can get it pretty narrowed down on following patterns of how crime occurs and so we're also seeing it in politics. i was just down in florida talking about this. and the obama campaign employs a lot of data people. >> sure. >> jamal: so how are they using that data? >> they are given two scores, on how likely is this person who turn out. one would be how likely is this person to vote democratic or republican as the case might be.

you can target different literature and you can have voters that might never vote for you turn out, and that can be a different approach. and you can get information based on someone's name gender, and what neighborhood they live in. it's kind of the story of outsiders changing the industry. in politics the inside game certainly for obama in '08 and frankly for bush in 2004 has often been data driven. >> jamal: sure. and in a campaign what we see -- for instance, all right. the poll said something a week ago about what direction we were headed in the campaign. we saw the president, you know, on this roll. we saw mitt romney making

mistake after mistake, and then all of a sudden we have a night like the debate night where mitt romney shows up in a different way. so when that happens how does that influence your work? or does it? >> sure it influences it to the extent we have to see if there is a change in polls, is this real or a temporary statistical blip. but we cannot control for every factor in a campaign. for the set pieces, the conventions, and the debates which we have to kind of wait and see how people react. i certainly don't think obama did very well in the debate but sometimes you'll have -- it doesn't show up in a big way in the polls a couple of days later. >> my friends swear by you. people are following your blog and sending out emails so you

have this huge following out there, and you can follow nate on twitter @fivethirtityeight. the book is called "the signal and the noise." so let's talk about what you are seeing from your data analysis. >> we had obama up by about four or five points before the debate. my guess would be now that is down to two to three points or maybe a little bit smaller. we'll see what happens with the jobs report. i think you can't underestimate how tuned in to every detail people are on this. so look, it will be a competitive campaign -- if

romney had as good of night in denver, and this doesn't move the polls by more than a point, then you have to almost just conclude it is just not in the cards for him this year. but obama still has electoral college problems he is going to give to romney. in ohio he is up by five on average in the polls that would give him enough votes to win the election. >> jamal: one more quick question, are you following the senate races at all? >> yes, people talk about obama's convention bounce, but in senate races there has been a bigger shift towards democrats, where we have about an 80% chance of keeping the senate. individual race especially in swing states in ohio florida,

michigan, democratic candidates moved way ahead also in wisconsin and virginia so it seems like obama will have enough coat tails to have democrats keep the senate. at this point it is almost as likely that democrats would hold or maintain the number of seats and actually a net of three and lose the senate. >> thank you. that was nate silver from the "new york times" blog. the book is called "the signal and the noise." you can go to "bill press show".com to find out more information. we'll see you right back here after these messages. and thanks, nate, for being here. >> yes, thank you. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show" now on current tv.

stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. >> jamal: good morning welcome back to the "bill press show." my name is jamal simmons sitting in for bill press this morning. we have in the studio, nate silver from five thirty-eight blog. he also has a new book out called "the signal and the noise." thank you nate for being here. we're glad to have you for

another segment. and we also brought in the studio, back, he did not get to do our news update -- we have dan henning back in the studio. dan is going to sit in with us for this segment and we're happy to have dan here which is always fun. we're talking about politics and what happened in the senate and are you looking at the congressional and house races? >> the house is difficult, because you have to account for the district by district factor -- the swing district right now for control of the house is actually a bit republican leaning in part because the democrats have their votes concentrated in places like new york where you have 85 or 90% democratic districts, instead of being spread out throughout the country. democrats have to clear a pretty high threshold now before they can win the house. and i think there's not likely to be enough of a wave to do

that. whereas the senate looks pretty good for democrats. at least until the debate the presidency was looking pretty good for democrats. so you would expect those ironically to remain status quo. >> jamal: okay. and just so everyone remembers this is the "bill press show," but at 8:30 we'll talk about the new jobs numbers coming out. so you don't have to go anywhere to check those out. in the studio with us is dan henning. i want to hear about your background, and you were pretty young when you started this right? >> yeah, was always kind of a numbers geek growing up. i grew up in michigan -- i was six years old -- >> jamal: we should have started there. where are you from? >> east lancing.

>> jamal: okay. i'm from detroit. >> okay. cool. i was six years old when the tigers won the world series -- >> the tigers are back in it this year. >> yeah, absolutely. >> jamal: i was a freshman in high school, and my dad comes in the morning of the parade and he said get up get dressed, you are skipping school we're going to the parade. >> yeah lease take a michigan attitude. >> maybe i'll do that this year when the nationals win the world series. >> yeah. >> we all here in this town are very excited because we're not a baseball town at all, and we have the best record now in baseball, and they are in the

playoffs. where are they going? what is your take? >> i think they are as good as there is. i think it would be better if they had all of their pitchers -- >> thank you. thank you. >> but if you had to -- in baseball so much the luck of a draw, you never want to put down even one team but you would think they have as good of chance as anyone in the national league about making the world series. >> okay. i guess we can't continue this conversation without talking about the new york yankees. what do you think about them? >> they always have plenty of talent -- >> i think they are overrated. >> you can't state they are overrated -- you can say you don't like them. >> i think they are overrated. i think they have struggled this year, and i could see them not going to the world series --

>> actually the yankees are underrated. >> really? >> yeah. they had this pennate rays with the orioles. and they are a better team talent wise. >> you think the orioles are one and done? >> i think most likely. >> all right. [ laughter ] >> jamal: when it comes to baseball i'm like the mikki domiska of the show. thank you for being here nate. thanks for being here. this is the "bill press show." my name is jamal simmons. we'll see you back in a few

minutes with the jobs numbers. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ presents coverage of the vice presidential debate. with unrivaled analysis and commentary. >> the idea that he could criticize the president on the down grading, when he led the charge to block a resolution. outrageous. (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >>now that's politically direct.

♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio, and current tv. >> jamal: good morning, this is jamal simmons at the "bill press show." welcome back. we're going to go straight to the news. hopefully you came back here and we're going to talk about the jobs news right now. we have stan who is an economic experts house and senate budget committee guy. he is the man when it comes to these numbers. stan what do we know? >> we got a big number this morning. very, very unexpected. unemployment dropped to 7.8%

that's the lowest since january 2009. from the time barack obama took office it is now back to where it started -- to where george bush left it. >> and how many jobs are we hearing about -- >> about 114,000 new jobs. 7.8, this is the number that nate has been saying 8.0% was going to be significant. >> you know, this is good for not just -- it's good for americans -- it's good for the president, but more importantly it is good for americans because it means maybe there is a little bit of untick in some speed here. 114,000 is not a huge number, but that's replacement level. >> it at least 150 is what you

want to go for. but the 7.8% number indicates that people are dropping out of the system. but the headline 7.8% is going to be very very significant. this is something i don't even think the white house expected. >> jamal: when was the last time we were at this number? >> january when barack obama came into office. the trend is significant, it is dropping significantly. and the other high point is the stock market. i don't think any other president -- very few other presidents are going to be able to say either one of those two things. >> jamal: and we had a revision

in the jobs numbers, recently right? >> yeah 369,000 new jobs. and on a month-to-month basis, the average was much much higher. >> jamal: the last number i saw was 5.1 million jobs created, so this will take it to 5.2 million. >> it always surprises me how short-term the memory of americans is, but if you remember the number of jobs we were losing each month, and the steady drop in the dow. i remember when the dow was going down 600 points a day. and now we're getting pretty steady substantial growth. it may not be heading as fast as

you want. on the other hand that means inflation is staying low, and it looks like things are actually starting to get where we want them to go. >> jamal: viewers and listeners of the "bill press show" will probably remember that graph that shows where we were in terms of jobs and where we are today. back when barack obama became president we were losing 750,000 jobs a month, and now we're gaining 750,000 jobs a month. >> that's exactly right. this is a substantial change from what was happening in the last two years of the bush administration. it may not have happened as fast as obama wanted, but this is a base for solid growth, this is not a blip you have had a steady trend that indicates that

things are getting much better. if you look at auto sales, you have got to feel better about these things. if we can just get this fiscal cliff nonsense out of the way. if the republicans in the house in particular could be wiped out and we could get some deals together we could eliminate a lot of uncertainty. >> i want to throw in one thing as people are looking at the numbers. one thing that you'll often hear after a good report usually from republicans is more people have stopped looking for work. and i see here 418,000 more people were looking for work in september than in august. so this is not due to people dropping out of the work force. >> jamal: great. and peter can you look at private sector growth and whether or not there was -- they

cut public sector -- >> actually i have seen some quick numbers here. the private sector created about 104,000, so the public sector was growing a little bit in a while. >> jamal: wow. >> we haven't seen that in about four years, and that has been part of the republican strategy. but let me tell you why that is particularly good, if the public sector is growing that is one of the key elements of gdp. and it means that gdp growth could be picking up as well. >> jamal: people pay attention to -- there's the gross unemployment rate which is 7.8% as we're reporting, 114,000 jobs have been added in the last month. the report came out just a few moments ago.

7.8% unemployment rate. but the reason i focus on the public sector number when we look at the african american community you see that number in the double digits. it was as high as over 16%, 17 now it's down to about 14. 21% of all african-americans who work work for a state and local government. so when you are cutting jobs you are cutting jobs of african-americans. >> that's a great point. first of all whatever recovery is taking place, it is uneven. >> jamal: right. >> and when you start to see some of these state and local sectors picking up it means that better times are being spread around a little bit more. that's extremely important for the economy. let's shift to politics. you are a voter at home and the romney people are saying well

you have got to change, because things -- you can't trust this guy for things to be better and the clear economic trend is that unemployment is getting better. why would you change at this particularing point? you see things are getting better. this has to be a big positive for the president. >> jamal: i can remember being a democrat in 2004, and i can remember the numbers looking better that year and you feel torn. >> sure. >> jamal: you are thinking it is getting away from us. >> yeah when things don't go bad, you have to figure it out. i expect the romney folks to be tearing down the white house and talk about how job growth is

anemic. and my guess is by monday it will be reflected in the polls. >> jamal: mitt romney got caught at a fund-raising event saying you know, that americans -- 47% of americans who are living off of the government, and he lumped in veterans, students and senior citizens and all of the people in that number, some folks who are unemployed are now starting to get their jobs back. >> yeah, they are starting to get their jobs back. yesterday he said he made a mistake when he said that. another flip flop. next week he is probably going to take back -- no i wasn't really governor of massachusetts. yeah, but for those people who were not going to vote for romney to begin with are starting to feel much, much better about the prospects. but this guy was handed a

terrible, situation, and he is starting to turn it around. >> jamal: in some of the big swing states like ohio, the unemployment rate has already been going down so he was taking his argument, and people were starting to feel like it is improving. and you have the governor running around saying it is improving, basically arguing against mitt romney. >> one of the points nate makes in his blog, is the economy has been growing better in some of the swing states. >> jamal: well, it's a pleasure to have here. >> you have two people with exactly the same haircuts that the "huffington post" said was indicative of a strong

leadership. >> jamal: there you go. i'm jamal simmons, we'll see you back here after the break. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on tv. this is the "bill press show." ♪

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

♪ >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show," live on your radio, and on current tv. >> jamal: good morning, and welcome back to the last few minutes of the "bill press show." my name is jamal simmons, we are

joined by stan calender you can find him online with capitol games.com, and he is on twitter @thebudgetguy. >> yes, and unemployment has wallen from 8.1% to 7.9%. that's a huge change. and the political implications are extraordinary. guess what it's not just below 8%, it is .2 of a percent. and that's a big deal. peter just for old-time sake

can you play the music. ♪ >> all right. 7.8%. that's the news. we just had to do that so i could feel at home. >> jamal: i love that. i think everybody is paying at attention to this, because it's not just good for the american people -- for a lot of americans -- this is also good for the president -- and i think for a lot of americans this has been a tough time. they have seen their housing values drop, mitt romney wants to go after their medicare plan but now we're starting to see pickup, you have the federal reserve steve bernanke -- i'm sorry. >> ben. >> jamal: yes. he has gone his action to try to pick this game up a bit.

>> it is interesting the feds had a bullseye painted on it by the republicans, who were saying they shouldn't be involved in economic policy making. and you have to say to yourself what? >> yeah, that is one of the charges of the fed. >> it's one of the legally required things that the fed does is unemployment, and whatever they are doing is starting to work and thank god nay are around. >> jamal: yes, because you haven't get anything through in congress because the republicans didded they weren't going to play ball. and hopefully, maybe when we come back in january if we get a new president obama term in, they'll say he is not running again, let's do something for the country. >> i big up a lot of this from nate's blog is republicans may lose a handful of seats in the house, and it looks like

democrats may hold their own or pick up two possibly. what we should do is get rid of the fiscal cliff, let's drive this economy forward and then start to negotiate on the budget. >> jamal: here is what is so interesting to me the republicans refuse to talk about the revenues and then they will never talk about tax increases, they only talk about broadening the base. but every single bipartisan group has come back with the same general formula. pay attention to spending cuts defense cuts, talk about entitlements, and how we reform them, and then let's add revenue, but in this works if we have growth and in order to

have growth we need more demand in it. right. >> yeah. it's not about substance for them, it's about appealing to a base that says hell no, we won't go no matter what you do on it. and it's about the no-tax pledge, and the tea party wing of the party. my guess is as the economy gets better there will be a little bit more receptivity to it. i don't want to pay more in taxes either butted a the president said this is about math. and if you don't want to look at all of the pieces that is revenue and spending you can't balance the budget. >> jamal: you are the budget guy, what is going to happen on the fiscal cliff. >> unfortunately i think we'll hit the cliff and go over it. >> jamal: really? >> yeah.

>> jamal: that's a radical view. >> i think wall street somebody underestimating -- i think john boehner is going to have to let it happen to remain speaker. but that's not to say they won't correct it later, but we're going to hit it in january and probably keep going for a couple of weeks. >> jamal: all right. he is the budget guy, and he is at capital gains and games. we'll be back with a final word just after these messages. thank you all for being here too. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show" now on current tv. ♪

start you morning with a daily dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] bloc

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> jamal: good morning this is jamal simmons in for bill press at the "bill press show." thank you for being here. i had a great time this week with a good group of folks backstage who have been helping me pull this show off. thank you peter. >> it was an honor to work with you, sir. >> jamal: thank you. we have been talking about mitt romney and his -- his surrogate john sununu coming after barack obama calling him lazy saying he needed to learn how to be an american. is this a dog whistle that is going out in america, and i was listening to the president yesterday, and i heard something the president said which i want you to listen to. >> obama: governor romney may dance around his position, he

may do a tap dance and a two step but if you want to be president, then you owe the american people the truth. [ cheers ] >> jamal: i don't know. he is talk about governor romney dancing. i don't know if you have seen mitt romney walking around he looks like his shoes are too tight when he comes out on stage. i kind of wonder was that a dog whistle. there was a woman who has a new show coming out, but i wonder if that's a dog whistle about awkward white guy. >> now all i can think about is him dancing, so it works. >> jamal: thank you for being here. i have had a great time. bill will be here on monday. i'm jamal simmons, @jam

mallsimilar sons on twitter. have a great day. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."